Is this book standalone or are there planned sequels? I skimmed the thread but didn't notice anything. I'm really interested but very much opposed to beginning incomplete series and having to wait for new books then reread the series to get caught up again.

Is this book standalone or are there planned sequels? I skimmed the thread but didn't notice anything. I'm really interested but very much opposed to beginning incomplete series and having to wait for new books then reread the series to get caught up again.

Is this book standalone or are there planned sequels? I skimmed the thread but didn't notice anything. I'm really interested but very much opposed to beginning incomplete series and having to wait for new books then reread the series to get caught up again.

Heya - the book was conceived as a standalone and reads as such. It is however now part of a trilogy. The trilogy is written. It will only ever be a trilogy. As I understand it the publishers plan to release one a year.

Good to know it'll definitely be finished, but it'll definitely be a while before I get to it. Abercrombie, Abraham, Moorcock, Elliot, Wurts/Feist, Berg, Williams, Parker, Hobb and Erickson are all standing in the way with finished series, plus I have to reread ASoIaF and Sword of Shadows at some point.

Good to know it'll definitely be finished, but it'll definitely be a while before I get to it. Abercrombie, Abraham, Moorcock, Elliot, Wurts/Feist, Berg, Williams, Parker, Hobb and Erickson are all standing in the way with finished series, plus I have to reread ASoIaF and Sword of Shadows at some point.

Just to reiterate: it's not a case of 'will be finished' - it is finished (bar some publisher editing), it's just not published. If I lose an argument with a bus tomorrow, my widow will ensure (by dint of emailing in the files) that the full story makes print.

In any case, sounds like you have plenty to occupy you. We'll continue this conversation from our retirement homes

I finished this about an hour ago, after starting it yesterday. That's a pretty good indicator of how wrapped-up in the story I was. I thought it was an extremely compelling novel, and Jorg's voice was very addictive.

Jorg is not a nice boy, and comes across much more mature and wiser than you'd expect for a 13-year old. Because the narrative was so strong and believable, I was able to gloss over the fact that a young teenager was leading a band of hardened criminals.

Loved the setting/milieu, as I'm a fan of the type of fantasy world Mark has created.

I'll save more for the review as I want this to really settle in my head for a bit.

I finished this about an hour ago, after starting it yesterday. That's a pretty good indicator of how wrapped-up in the story I was. I thought it was an extremely compelling novel, and Jorg's voice was very addictive.

Jorg is not a nice boy, and comes across much more mature and wiser than you'd expect for a 13-year old. Because the narrative was so strong and believable, I was able to gloss over the fact that a young teenager was leading a band of hardened criminals.

Loved the setting/milieu, as I'm a fan of the type of fantasy world Mark has created.

I'll save more for the review as I want this to really settle in my head for a bit.

Good to hear, Rob!

Any book should stand entirely on its own merits, so you might want to avoid the spoilered considerations, but below are some relevant elements from similar discussions on this topic elsewhere:

Spoiler:

Jorg's 14 for the majority of the book when his leadership is claimed - a small point to be true - he is certainly a young teen.

Jorg's dominance arises from several sources
i) He is a highly exceptional individual & trained to lead
ii) Corion's hand guided events to some degree (cf Price's demise)
iii) He has strong support on hand from the Captain of the Guard and the Nuban.

Note also that similarly young and adept protagonists may be seen in Ender's Game and other Card books, in GRRM's work, and elsewhere no doubt (hampered by my limited fantasy reading here!).

Note further that in our own world there are well documented modern examples of children as young as 10 leading mercenary gangs comprising mainly adults (IIRC the mercenaries attributed magic powers to the two brothers involved).

I've wondered if people with e-copy might not just do a global search and replace if the numbers bother them and put in figures they can swallow as easily as walking dead. It would be a shame for a couple of numbers to sour close on 100,000 words.

If the numbers can't be changed simply convince yourself that the years in the book are longer or that the people have mutated to mature more swiftly

Not trying to be facetious here - just setting down some of the suggested solutions to what seems to be a sticking point that manages to be at once very minor and at the same time quite significant for some readers.

Interesting points, Mark. Perhaps those who are objecting to that point are not aware of the history of such things, as you point out.

When life expectancy was 38, that would make Jorg almost middle-aged!

Would it be also true that Jorg is an unreliable narrator? The date/age could then be questionable....

Alternatively (and pushing the boat out even more to Gene Wolfe-ian levels), people are assuming that the age you give is the same as our age, that a year old is the same as our year old. You could prove them wrong in the second book!

Little used less wanted facts. Thats what my wife terms information that I provide to conversations on occasion. She is adamant that marrying a former history major is a death sentence to any intriguing conversation. That having been said, as late as 1900 (i.e. A.D., C.E., or whatever the hell convention is being used these days) life expectancy, at least in the U.S., was 41 years of age. Believe it or not, Eli Whitney and the cotton gin (i.e. undergarments) had a lot to do with nearly doubling life expectancy in a mere century.

Here I am folding up like lawn furniture. I was trying to read down my 200+ TBR pile and keep away from upcoming books (with the exception of Bakker, GRRM, et al.), but I have, once again, perpetrated an epic fail. Just went and purchased Lawrence's book. Yes, had to have HB too.